No, as a helicopter pilot I can explain this.
The aircraft was flying VFR, which means not on instruments. Helicopters are allowed to fly during daylight in the type of airspace he was operating in from John Wayne to the crash site in 1/2 mile visibility and clear of clouds. This is predicated on the pilot determining he is in fact flying in at least 1/2 mile visibility and clear of clouds. This is not easily done, because it can be difficult to tell whether your projected flight path will keep you out of the clouds and clouds are a kind of fuzzy looking beast in front of you, or hopefully above you, and it can be very difficult to assure you aren’t going to fly into a cloud or an area of reduced visibility up ahead. This is why you shouldn’t play with fire; just land, at an airport preferably or street, park, etc.
The altitude read outs you see are what the transponder reports which is Pressure Altitude, the height above the 29.92” Hg standard datum plane. This is essentially above sea level under yesterday’s conditions. So, if the altitude readout says 1,400’ you could actually be on the ground if the elevation where you are is 1,400’. What would be great is an Above Ground Level (AGL) readout, which can be determined by comparing the flight path with topographical maps.
I am a pilot who flies in Los Angeles and knows SoCal very well. I know the elevations throughout most of SoCal. This pilot was flying as low as 150’ at numerous times throughout this flight. This was done to “scud run” and get through to his destination. This is unacceptable and a very dangerous practice. He had multiple chances to end the flight by landing, somewhere. He kept pushing through, into rising terrain westbound towards Calabasas. If you have bad visibility and ceilings in the San Fernando Valley you are definitely going to have a much worse time in higher terrain.
It appears he flew into the clouds/fog shortly after. After realizing he was Inadvertent-Instrument Meteorological Conditions (I-IMC, or “cant see because he’s in a cloud”) he did the right thing by focusing on instruments instead, since he has no visual reference with the ground anymore. He actually began to do the right thing by climbing and starting a 180 degree turn. However, most helicopter pilots are not good at flying on instruments since we basically never do it after receiving the rating for the ability. There is a whole conversation of reasons why that is the case but is outside the scope of this comment. So the pilot likely developed Spatial Disorientation and lost control of the helicopter, which is indicated by the rapid descent in the last seconds of the flight.
As a helicopter pilot this absolutely enrages me. How someone could flaunt company policy, standard procedures, regulations and exhibit no shred of professionalism to keep everyone onboard safe is beyond me. He could have just landed at Van Nuys and they could get a car service the rest of the way. I have done this a BUNCH of times, is a little disappointing when you can’t make it to the destination but this was some of the worst conditions we’ve seen in a long while and in the end: what are you doing risking people’s lives to please them? Just. Fucking. Land.
TLDR ; Crashed cause pilot got disorientated in a cloud in bad conditions. Would have lived if pilot landed as procedure dictates.
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